Facing tile imitating natural stone is effective on any surface. It is often used for interior cladding, for the exterior decoration of fences and building facades. In shops, the choice of tiles is rich. However, for the decoration of a summer residence, a fence or an arbor, you can make an artificial stone with your own hands. This will not only save your money, but also deliver an incomparable sensation.
What do you need?
In order to make an artificial stone with your own hands, you will need the following ingredients:
- fine sand;
- cement grade M400 and above;
- release agent;
- water;
- rubber molds having a bottom with a relief similar to an unprocessed stone (they can be bought at any hardware store).
The whole process is divided into 5 simple steps.
Preparatory stage
Before you start making artificial stone with your own hands, you need to find out the amount of material that you will need for cladding. It is necessary to produce with a small margin. Depending on this stock, cement mortar should be mixed . You will also need to lubricate the mold with a release agent so that the finished stone can easily separate from it.
Solution mixing
In order to answer the question of how to make an artificial stone with your own hands, you must strictly take into account all the proportions. The ratio of sand, cement and water should be taken 3: 1: 1. To color the future stone, color can be added to the mixture. This is preferable to external painting of the finished material. Mixing is necessary in a metal or plastic container. The resulting solution must be poured into a mold lubricated with a release agent. The thickness of the poured mass in this case should not be more than three centimeters.
Molding
For better filling, you will have to do a vibration shrink (for a large batch, you can make a vibration table from an induction motor with an eccentric and 4 springs and two metal / wooden platforms) or a bayonet (you can pierce a small batch with a spatula or trowel and slightly shake the shapes, tapping the edges). This will help to avoid the formation of air cavities in the solution.
Drying
Creating an artificial stone with your own hands, you need to understand how to dry it correctly. For this form you need to place on racks with a flat surface. In this case, it is necessary to make sure that direct sunlight does not fall on the future product. It is recommended to moisten hardening tiles periodically with water (in small portions). In order to avoid rapid evaporation of liquid from the surface of the stone, the molds should be covered with plastic wrap.
Formwork
This is the name of the process of extracting tiles from forms. It needs to be done carefully. If the stone adhered to the mold during drying, it should be placed in hot water (10 min) and knocked on its sides. The tile after this should come out without unnecessary problems.
Conclusion
On this, the conversation about creating stone can be considered complete. As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this process. And if you do everything neatly and correctly, then in the future you will be able to create more massive things. For example, it is quite easy to create a table, as the main material in which an artificial stone will act. The worktop, which you can easily do with your own hands after several workouts, will look very impressive.